India's Tata Motors aiming at Chinese market

KOLKATA, India -- India's premier automaker Tata Motors-owned Jaguar Land Rover is making inroads in the Chinese luxury car market, as more consumers are taking to the roads in luxury SUVs.

"We see great potential for further growth. We sell our entire vehicle line-up in China and will grow by expanding sales and introducing new derivatives and models, some designed specifically for China," a top company official said Monday.

As the upper end of the Chinese auto market is all about chauffeured-luxury vehicles, Tata Motors intends to rev up the momentum and roar back to health. China was Jaguar Land Rover's third-biggest market after the UK and North America. The April-June quarter saw China surpass the US and the UK markets to become the biggest market for JLR with 22 percent of sales.

Though JLR contributed 75 percent of revenue and 91 percent of profits to Tata Motors quarterly results, its India unit saw profits halve. JLR sales grew 34 percent to 83,452 units.

Last year, 42,063 JLR vehicles were sold in China. In June, 6,407 JLR cars were sold in one month alone, a 93 percent increase against June last year.

As part of its plans to expand beyond Asia, Tata Motors had bought Jaguar and Land Rover from US Ford Motor Co in 2008 for $2.3 billion.

JLR is increasing investments in China. It recently formed a joint venture with Chery Automotive for 17.5 billion yuan. The Chery-JLR joint venture is expected to roll off its first vehicle in 2014.

Though official sales began in 2003 for Land Rover and in 2004 for Jaguar, the sustained sales growth has spurred expansion of marketing and service networks. More than 200 people currently work in JLR's China National Sales Company.